Active Studies

Reappraisal in Social Environments (RISE) Peer Study

Principal Investigator: Dr. Tracy Dennis, PhD; Dr. Sarah Myruski, PhD

Emotion regulation (ER) promotes positive adjustment across the lifespan, yet little is known about how social context influences biological processes underlying ER, particularly during adolescence, a critical period for ER development. This study employs a neurocognitive index of ER sensitive to social context, the late positive potential. Since adolescence is characterized by growing reliance on peers for social support, and pervasive use of mobile digital technology for communication, this study tests whether technology-mediated peer presence positively impacts adolescent neurocognitive ER.

Funding: The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH)

We are currently recruiting 12- to- 14-year-olds for a research study about teen anxiety. Anxiety disorders are the most common psychopathology among teens, with symptoms frequently emerging during mid-adolescence, a period of rapid and profound brain development. Disruptions in attention towards emotional information is thought to contribute to anxiety. However, these disruptions and their neural bases are poorly understood. We integrate multiple methods, including fMRI, EEG, and eye-tracking, to study how patterns of attention relate to brain and behavioral markers, as well as different types of anxiety disorders. The outcome of this study will help improve treatment of anxiety disorders in youth by making personalized intervention approaches possible.

Principal Investigator: Dr. Tracy Dennis-Tiwary, PhD; Dr. Marom Bikson (The City College of New York)

In recent published studies (Dennis-Tiwary, Denefrio, & Gelber, 2017; Dennis & O’Toole, 2014), we have examined how a gamified mobile version of attention bias modification training (ABMT) may reduce a range of anxiety-related symptoms by training one’s attention away from emotional stimuli. In an effort to increase efficacy, the current study applies transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) to the frontal areas of the brain during ABMT. tDCS is a safe brain stimulation technique that potentiates ongoing brain activity and has been shown to accelerate learning, enhance memory, and increase creativity in healthy individuals. In addition, it has been used in the treatment of debilitating psychological, psychiatric, and neurological disorders with significant promise.Through use of this exciting technique, we hope to better understand how ABMT shifts attention and identify conditions under which ABMT may be most effective.

Overgeneralization of fear, or fear responses to both signals of danger and safety, has been examined as a feature and causal factor in anxiety. While research to date has focused on relations between fear learning and overgeneralized fear, emerging evidence suggests that disruptions in how we learn about and detect safety in the environment may play an equally important role. Moreover, safety learning may be an important target of prevention and intervention, and could boost the effects of existing treatment approaches. Our current project investigates how learning about fear and safety in the environment influences overgeneralized fear and experiences of anxiety and stress. We will directly compare our findings to a parallel study with mice, increasing our ability to identify neurobiological mechanisms underlying these effects. Findings have the potential to expand our understanding of etiological mechanisms in anxiety, as well as inform the development of innovative and more targeted treatment approaches.

Recent research suggests that exaggerated attention to threat, or the threat bias, may be one key cause of anxiety that is not specifically targeted by existing treatments. The goal of this study is to investigate state-related flexibility of threat bias in non-anxious adults. We will be using multiple tasks to measure threat bias, and do so at multiple time points. In addition, we will examine whether threat bias is sensitive to acute stressors, thus examining the context-sensitivity of threat bias. Results will contribute to our growing understanding of how best to measure threat bias, and its clinical application.

Dr. Tracy Dennis-Tiwary

Department of Psychology
Hunter College, the City University of New York
695 Park Avenue, Room HN 636
New York, NY 10065
(212) 650-3878
tracy.dennis@hunter.cuny.edu
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